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07028 January 11, 2007
Mission to the Middle East
PC(USA) leaders travels to Lebanon and Israel/Palestine to show support, gain knowledge
by Toya Richards Hill
LOUISVILLE - A delegation of top leaders of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) are traveling to the Middle East to show their continued support for the region's Christians and to get a first-hand look at the area's dynamics.
General Assembly Council (GAC) Chair the Rev. Allison Seed, General Assembly Stated Clerk the Rev. Clifton Kirkpatrick and GAC Executive Director Linda Bryant Valentine will depart Jan. 12 for visits to Lebanon and Israel/Palestine.
The trip to Lebanon, in the wake of the 34-day conflict this past summer between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, will come "as an expression of solidarity with the churches there," said the Rev. Victor Makari, coordinator for the PC(USA)'s Middle East Office.
The PC(USA) has a number of partners there, including the National Evangelical Synod of Syria and Lebanon, the Union of Armenian Evangelical Churches and the National Evangelical Church of Beirut.
The denomination also works ecumenically, maintaining relationship with Lebanon's Orthodox and Catholic communities, and is sympathetic and concerned about all of those who have been impacted by the war and the series of recent political assassinations, Makari said.
The PC(USA) delegation will then move on to
Israel/Palestine, where they will meet with Israeli Jewish and Christian church leaders, among others, "to further our understanding of the current issues, gain fresh perspectives and discern ways to advocate for a just and peaceful resolution to the conflict," Makari said.
"It is also an opportunity to enhance our interfaith relations, and to reaffirm our commitment of support to our church partners and all who work for peace and justice in the region," he said.
It will be the first such trip by high-level PC(USA) leaders to Israel/Palestine since the 217th General Assembly meeting in June, where the denomination voted to continue its efforts to "engage" those multinational corporations whose business in Israel/Palestine, the church believes, promotes violence.
"What we are trying to send is a sense of community and solidarity with our fellow Christians in the Middle East" who have "had some rough times and some serious challenges," said Seed. They may feel like the rest of the Christian world has forgotten about them, but "we want to make it clear that we want to do as much as we can to share their burdens with them."
Valentine, who was last in the Middle East in 1968, said the trip also will help "gain a better understanding first hand of the issues as we seek to guide the GAC and the church and its involvement going forward."
"I'm looking forward to learning more," she said.
Kirkpatrick will join the group in Lebanon following a meeting in Istanbul, Turkey between the World Alliance of Reformed Churches (WARC), of which he is president, and the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
WARC, like the PC(USA), "has been deeply concerned" about the member churches in Lebanon, "particularly given the difficult situation they've been in this summer," Kirkpatrick said. "The greetings and concerns of the world" will be shared through this visit, he said.
In Israel/Palestine, "we continue to be committed to peace and justice," and in so many ways it looks like new opportunities for peace are emerging, he said.
Among other things, Kirkpatrick pointed to the results of the recently released Iraq Study Group Report when talking about those new opportunities.
Included in the report are findings that, "The United States cannot achieve its goals in the Middle East unless it deals directly with the Arab-Israeli conflict and regional instability."
"There must be a renewed and sustained commitment by the United States to a comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace on all fronts: Lebanon, Syria, and President Bush's June 2002 commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine. This commitment must include direct talks with, by, and between Israel, Lebanon, Palestinians (those who accept Israel's right to exist), and Syria," the report said.
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